PAH. 

JAPAN 


" • " " • ' " 1 


The 

Triumphant 

Gospel 


IN 


Japan 


BY 


WILLIAM  AXLING,  D.D. 


American  Baptist  Foreign 
Mission  Society 

Ford  Building,  Boston,  Mass. 


The 

Triumphant  Gospel 
in  Japan 

BY  WILLIAM  AXLING,  D.D. 

Missionary  Pastor  of  the  Baptist 
Tabernacle  in  Tokyo 

CHRISTIANITY  in  the  Japanese 
Empire  is  a triumphant  force.  The 
gospel  is  winning  the  day.  Jesus 
Christ  is  marching  in  triumph 
across  the  land  and  is  gripping  the  hearts 
and  transforming  the  lives  of  the  people 
everywhere. 

Under  Two  Dynasties 

In  1868  the  Japanese  Emperor  learning 
that  Christianity  was  knocking  at  the  doors 
of  the  Empire  issued  two  edicts.  Trans- 
lated into  English  they  read  as  follows: 

“ As  long  as  the  sun  shall  continue  to 
warm  the  earth  let  no  Christian  be  so 
bold  as  to  come  to  Japan.  And  let  all 
know  that  if  the  Christian’s  God  himself 
shall  violate  this  command  He  shall  pay 
for  it  with  His  head.” 

“ The  wicked  sect  called  Christian  is 
strictly  prohibited.  All  persons  suspected 
of  being  Christians  are  to  be  reported  to 
the  officials  and  rewards  will  be  given.” 

There  is  no  uncertain  sound  about  these 
edicts.  They  clearly  indicate  the  attitude 
of  the  government  of  that  time  toward 
Christianity. 

Two  years  ago  the  present  Emperor  of 
Japan  learned  that  a Christian  hospital 
in  the  city  of  Tokyo  was  overcrowded  and 
that  the  management  wished  to  enlarge 
the  building  and  extend  the  work.  Did 
he  follow  in  the  footsteps  of  his  father 
forty-five  years  ago.?  No,  he  went  down 
deep  into  his  own  pocket  and  brought  forth 
50,000  yen  (325,000).  This  he  sent  to  the 
superintendent  of  that  Christian  institu- 
tion to  help  provide  for  enlargement  and 
extension.  During  his  coronation  he  gra- 
ciously gave  a gift  of  ten  thousand  yen 
to  the  Christian  Leper  Asylum  located  at 
Kumamoto.  He  has  also  acknowledged  his 
appreciation  of  the  work  that  the  Salva- 
tion Army  is  doing  in  Japan  by  a gift  of 
six  thousand  yen. 


[2] 


These  actions  speak  louder  than  words. 
They  voice  a changed  attitude  that  is 
most  remarkable. 

A Memorable  Meeting 

For  fifty  years  the  outstanding  leaders 
of  Japan  were  swept  along  on  an  ever 
rising  tide  of  agnostic  and  religionless 
tendencies.  Religion  was  banished  from 
their  thinking.  Then  came  scandals  in 
the  Imperial  navy.  Men  in  high  places 
were  found  with  hands  grimy  with  graft. 
Up  and  down  the  land  the  wreckage  of 
character  was  appalling.  These  things 
shocked  many  of  the  thoughtful  leaders 
into  a great  awakening. 

In  1913  two  hundred  of  Japan’s  leaders 
became  so  concerned  that  they  gathered 
in  the  city  of  Tokyo  to  consider  the  situa- 
tion and  see  what  could  and  ought  to  be 
done.  At  that  meeting  Baron  Sakatani, 
ex-Minister  of  Finance,  and  one  of  Japan’s 
outstanding  statesmen,  arose  and  said: 
“ As  a nation  we  are  face  to  face  with  a 
great  social  and  moral  crisis.  The  situa- 
tion calls  for  great  frankness.  Let  us  lay 
bare  our  hearts.  If  we  have  confessions  to 
make  let  us  make  them.  And  I will  make 
one  myself.  As  a child  in  the  home  I 
was  taught  to  despise  Buddhism  and  to 
fear  Christianity.  As  a youth  in  the 
schools  and  the  university  we  were  taught 
to  look  with  scorn  upon  religion  of  every 
character.  As  men,  come  to  maturity, 
and  engaged  in  Empire  building  here  in  the 
Orient,  it  has  been  the  passion  and  purpose 
of  our  hearts  that  Japan  should  stand 
down  through  the  years  as  an  everlasting 
evidence  of  the  fact  that  a nation  can  be- 
come great  and  do  great  things  without 
religion.  But  we  must  acknowledge  the 
fact  that  today  a spirit  of  conviction  is 
sweeping  over  the  government  and  the 
thoughtful  leaders  of  the  nation  that  we 
have  misinterpreted  human  nature  and 
misunderstood  the  human  heart.  We 
need  religion.  The  nation  needs  God. 
The  people  need  the  dynamic  behind  re- 
ligion. Nothing  is  more  evident  than  the 
fact  that  we  are  surrendering  our  past 
position  and  yielding  to  the  contentions  of 
the  religionists.” 

Baron  Sakatani  is  one  to  whom  when  he 
stands  to  speak,  the  nation  stops  to  listen, 
and  that  utterance  made  a profound  im- 


[3] 


pression.  It  has  echoed  and  re-echoed  up 
and  down  the  Empire  and  done  much  to 
turn  the  tide.  Today  religion  looms  large 
in  the  life  of  the  nation. 

A Unique  Organization 

One  hundred  and  ten  outstanding  leaders, 
impelled  by  the  conviction  that  they  ought 
to  stress  the  spiritual  in  the  development 
of  the  life  of  the  nation,  have  banded  them- 
selves into  an  organization  for  the  purpose 
of  studying  the  great  moral  and  social  and 
religious  questions  of  the  day.  For  two 
years  these  men  — leaders  in  the  educa- 
tional and  political  and  industrial  life  of 
the  Empire  — have  been  gathering  once 
a month  in  the  city  of  Tokyo,  and  sitting 
together  five  hours  at  a sitting,  they  have 
studied  morals  and  religion.  The  president 
of  this  organization  is  Baron  Shibuzawa, 
the  J.  Pierpont  Morgan  of  Japan.  He  is 
one  of  the  wealthiest  men  in  Japan  and 
the  most  outstanding  character  in  the 
industrial  life  of  the  nation.  Baron 
Sakatani,  ex-Minister  of  Finance,  is  an 
enthusiastic  member.  Baron  Kikuchi, 
ex-Minister  of  Education  is  a member. 
President  Takata  of  Waseda  University, 
who  has  just  been  made  Minister  of 
Education,  is  also  a member.  Men  of  this 
type  — every  man  a leader  bearing  large 
responsibilities  in  the  national  life,  consti- 
tute the  membership  of  the  organization. 
In  fact  there  are  indications  that  today 
nothing  bulks  so  large  in  the  thinking  of 
many  of  Japan’s  leaders  as  does  religion. 

In  their  study  Christianity  has  had  its 
proper  place.  It  is  my  privilege  to  sit 
with  these  men,  and  again  and  again  they 
have  gathered  around  the  mighty  per- 
sonality of  Jesus  Christ  and  with  open 
hearts  and  minds  they  have  looked  into 
the  face  of  the  Christ,  sincerely  seeking 
to  know  his  message  for  their  nation. 

The  significant  thing  is  not  that  these 
men  have  become  Christians,  for  that  de- 
cision must  still  be  reached  by  most  of 
them.  The  significant  thing  about  this 
movement  is  that  for  the  first  time  in  the 
history  of  the  Japanese  nation  its  leaders 
have  become  willing  to  open  the  Book  of 
books  and  read  the  things  written  upon  its 
pages.  It  is  the  first  time  that  the  leaders 
of  Japan  have  in  any  large  numbers  been 
willing  to  give  Jesus  Christ  and  his  gospel 
a chance  upon  their  hearts  and  consciences. 


14] 


When  a people  come  to  this  point  the 
future  is  pregnant  with  promise. 

Mr.  Morimura,  one  of  Japan’s  million- 
aires, studied  the  New  Testament  for  years. 
Eight  months  ago  he  decided  that  he  and 
his  wealth  and  his  influence  ought  to  be 
lined  up  on  the  side  of  Christ,  and  he  came 
out  publicly  for  the  Master.  To  him  the 
call  to  salvation  meant  a call  to  service. 
And  in  the  evangelistic  campaign  which 
has  been  sweeping  across  Japan,  as  a lay- 
man he  has  been  going  up  and  down  the 
land  giving  to  his  own  people  messages 
that  have  flamed  and  flashed  with  the  fire 
of  the  Spirit  of  God. 

Count  Okuma  on  War  and 
Christianity 

In  the  spring  of  1913  Count  Okuma, 
the  present  Premier  of  Japan,  invited  some 
six  missionaries,  about  fifteen  Japanese 
pastors,  and  three  distinguished  Americans 
who  were  visiting  Japan  at  the  time  — Drs. 
John  R.  Mott,  Hamilton  Mabie  and 
Professor  Peabody  of  Harvard  University 
— to  meet  him  at  his  palatial  residence. 
The  burden  of  his  message  was  in  general 
as  follows : 

“ I believe  in  the  work  that  you  men 
are  doing.  I believe  that  our  people 
need  the  gospel  which  you  are  giving 
to  them.  Now,  how  can  questions  of 
the  character  that  have  arisen  between 
California  and  Japan  be  solved.^  Per- 
sonally I am  profoundly  convinced  that 
questions  of  this  kind  can  never  be 
solved  by  law,  nor  by  politics,  nor  by 
diplomacy.  And  as  for  war,  it  is  un- 
thinkable that  America  and  Japan  will 
ever  resort  to  arms  in  an  effort  to  find  a 
solution  for  any  of  the  questions  that  come 
up  between  them.  It  is  only  when  the 
American  people  on  the  one  hand  and 
the  Japanese  people  on  the  other  hand 
come  to  believe  what  the  gospel  teaches 
in  regard  to  man’s  true  relation  to  his 
fellowmen  that  questions  of  this  char- 
acter will  be  peaceably  and  permanently 
solved.  It  is  only  when  these  two 
peoples  believe  what  Christ  taught  in 
regard  to  the  fatherhood  of  God  and  the 
brotherhood  of  man  that  they  will  be 
able  to  extend  hands  across  the  Pacific 
and  work  together  for  all  that  is  good  and 
great  and  noble.  The  only  force  that 
can  solve  such  questions  is  Christianity.” 


[5] 


That  is  the  abounding  faith  of  Count 
Okuma  — the  Grand  Old  Man  of  the 
Japanese  Empire.  It  is  also  his  convic- 
tion as  to  the  impossibility  of  a war  be- 
tween America  and  Japan.  When  Ameri- 
cans are  listening  to  the  rantings  of  the 
yellow  journals,  and  the  yellow  politicians, 
and  the  yellow  lecturers  in  regard  to  the 
inevitable  war  that  is  coming  between  these 
two  nations,  let  them  call  to  mind  this 
utterance  of  Japan’s  most  distinguished 
and  most  influential  statesman. 

A Significant  Movement 

In  1914  the  Christian  forces  of  Japan, 
seeing  that  the  situation  spelled  op- 
portunity, launched  a nation-wide  evangel- 
istic campaign.  This  is  the  first  time  in 
Christian  history  that  the  entire  Christian 
hosts  of  a nation  joined  together  as  one  solid 
phalanx  in  a national  evangelistic  effort. 

This  campaign  had  its  inception  in  the 
heart  and  brain  of  a Japanese  pastor.  The 
leadership  of  the  campaign  has  been  very 
largely  in  the  hands  of  the  Japanese  Chris- 
tian leaders.  The  results  have  gone  far 
beyond  the  hopes  of  the  most  sanguine. 
In  Yokohama  4,000  people  crowded  vinto 
the  great  hall  the  opening  night  and  100 
decided  to  follow  Jesus  Christ.  In  Tokyo 
as  a result  of  two  different  campaigns 
5,500  of  her  two  and  a half  million  people 
broke  with  the  past  and  accepted  Chris- 
tianity as  their  religion.  In  Osaka,  the 
industrial  center  of  Japan,  in  a two-weeks’ 
campaign  2,000  men  and  women  were 
turned  to  the  Christ.  North  and  South, 
East  and  West  bring  the  same  glad  story. 
In  the  island  of  Kyushu,  the  most  conserva- 
tive section  of  the  Empire,  as  a result  of  a 
two  weeks’  effort  960  men  and  women 
turned  from  their  idols  and  temples  and 
became  worshipers  of  the  living  God. 

This  campaign  is  sweeping  across  Japan 
with  the  song  of  conquest  everywhere  it 
goes.  Half  a century  of  seed-sowing  is 
coming  to  fruitage  and  the  harvest  time 
has  come.  The  campaign  is  to  continue  for 
three  years  and  will  witness  in  Japan  some 
of  the  greatest  Christian  victories  that 
have  been  witnessed  in  any  land  or  age. 

The  Christian  Community 

The  impact  of  the  gospel  upon  Japan 
has  raised  up  a magnificent  company  of 
faithful  Christians.  In  the  pulpit  and  in 


[6] 


the  pew  of  the  church  of  Christ  in  Japan 
are  men  and  women  who  in  character  and 
in  scholarship,  in  faith  and  in  influence, 
are  the  peers  of  the  best  men  and  women 
in  America. 

In  the  pulpit  we  find  such  men  as  Dr. 
Chiba,  our  own  Baptist  leader;  Pastor 
Miyagawa,  the  Beecher  of  Japan;  Pastor 
Uemura,  the  Russell  Conwell  of  Japan; 
Pastor  Evina,  one  of  Japan’s  most  popular 
orators;  Colonel  Yomomura,  the  Japanese 
General  Booth;  Bishop  Hiraiwa,  Mr. 
Uchimura,  President  Harada,  and  a score 
of  others.  In  the  Christian  pew  we  find 
the  educators.  Dr.  Nitobe  and  President 
Sato  of  the  Imperial  University  of  the 
North;  the  jurist.  Supreme  Justice  Wata- 
nabe;  the  gentleman  and  scholar,  Hon. 
Ebara,  member  of  the  House  of  Peers; 
the  legislator,  Mr.  Shimada,  the  orator 
par-excellence  of  Parliament;  the  Christian 
warrior.  Admiral  Uriyu;  the  Christian  re- 
formers, Messrs.  Ando  and  Nemoto,  both 
members  of  Parliament,  and  many  others. 

These  are  men  who  are  blazing  paths  of 
glory  for  their  Lord  throughout  the  Sun- 
rise Kingdom. 

The  Baptist  Contribution 

The  Baptists  are  endeavoring  to  do  their 
share  toward  the  evangelization  of  this 
fair  land.  Among  the  islands  of  the  Inland 
Sea  the  Gospel  Ship  is  doing  a work  that  is 
unique  and  cannot  be  paralleled  anywhere 
in  the  Orient.  At  Waseda  University  the 
Baptists  have  been  given  a free  hand  to 
give  the  gospel  to  the  ten  thousand  students 
of  that  institution.  The  Tokyo  (Misaki) 
Tabernacle,  located  in  the  heart  of  the 
city,  is  endeavoring  with  a fourteen-hour- 
a-day  seven-days-in-the-week  program  to 
meet  the  opportunities  of  its  strategic 
location.  Duncan  Academy  devotes 
itself  to  the  task  of  educating  and  develop- 
ing Christian  character  among  the  young 
men  committed  to  its  care.  In  the  Japan 
Baptist  Theological  Seminary — an  in- 
stitution in  which  Northern  and  Southern 
Baptists  are  united  — are  trained  our 
future  Christian  leaders.  Four  girls’ 
schools  are  engaged  in  educating  and 
giving  Christian  training  to  the  young 
women  of  the  Empire.  A Kindergarten 
Training  School  and  a Women’s  Bible 
Training  School  are  training  specialists  for 
work  among  women  and  children.  In  the 


[7] 


strategic  centers  of  the  nation,  Tokyo, 
Yokohama,  Osaka,  Kyoto,  Kobe,  Himeji, 
Mito,  Sendai  and  Morioka  and  the  sur- 
rounding country,  missionaries  and  Japan- 
ese pastors  and  evangelists  are  engaging 
in  various  forms  of  Christian  service. 

A Challenge 

The  impact  of  the  gospel  upon  Japan 
has  led  multitudes  of  the  people  to  break 
with  their  past  religious  ideas  and  ideals. 
With  their  backs  to  the  idols  and  temples 
and  with  their  faces  toward  the  sunrise 
they  stand  with  their  hearts  and  minds 
open  to  the  light,  “ the  Light  that  lighteth 
every  man  that  cometh  into  the  world.” 
Hungry-hearted  and  conscious  of  a great 
famine  in  their  souls  they  are  casting  about 
for  a haven  in  which  to  anchor  their  faith. 

The  500,000  students  of  the  Empire 
almost  to  a man  have  broken  with  the  old 
creeds  and  stand  hesitating  between  Christ 
and  agnosticism.  The  pupils  in  the 
primary  and  secondary  schools  of  the 
Empire  six  million  strong  will  also  soon  be 
ready  for  a new  order.  In  1915  there 
were  115,000  Christians  among  Japan’s 
sixty  million  people.  To  give  the  gospel 
to  this  unevangelized  host  there  was  one 
missionary  to  every  46,000  and  one  Japan- 
ese worker  to  every  38,000.  Of  temples 
and  shrines  there  were  495,000.  Of 
churches  and  preaching  places  there  were 
only  1,860. 

In  the  Orient  Japan  stands  in  the  posi- 
tion of  leadership.  That  leadership  she  is 
making  potent  and  powerful.  As  goes 
Japan  so  in  a large  measure  goes  the  Orient. 
Japan  for  Christ  means  the  Orient  for 
Christ.  Japan  against  Christ  means  the 
Orient  with  its  teeming  millions  with  their 
backs  to  the  Christ.  The  challenge  that 
comes  ringing  across  eight  thousand  miles 
of  sea  and  land  is  that  the  church  in 
America  shall  do  everything  possible  to  win 
this  land  for  Christ.  How  are  we  going 
to  answer  this  challenge.? 

Tokyo,  Japan  {ReprinUd  from  Missions) 


For  additional  literature  or  other 
information  regarding  the  work  of 
the  American  Baptist  Foreign  Mission 
Society,  write  to  any  of  the  following: 

1.  The  nearest  District  Secretary. 

2.  Department  of  Missionary  Education  23  East 
26th  Street,  New  York  City. 

3.  Literature  Department,  Box  41,  Boston,  Mass. 

26-10M-9-1-1916. 


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